


decisions

by abigaillecters



Category: The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Love, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2013-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-05 03:46:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abigaillecters/pseuds/abigaillecters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She doesn’t have to say anything more than that for him to understand. His swollen lips curve upwards into a full smile. She can see all of his beautiful, crooked teeth and he has tears in his eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	decisions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [olivja](https://archiveofourown.org/users/olivja/gifts).



Liesel is walking to work in the thick air of the Australian summer when she sees them. A mother with her children, seated at a sidewalk café by the shore, the redheaded girls laughing and their mother smiling proudly at them. It’s that very moment that sticks out in Liesel’s mind as the moment that she made up her mind. 

She wants to become a Mother.

~

There had been conversations about babies in the past; he had always wanted them, she was undecided. Her indecisiveness had more to do with her own insecurities than whether or not she liked children. Max had understood and with a gentle kiss on her forehead he’d told her that he was ready when she was and if she decided she would never be ready, well that would be okay too.

~

But it’s those redheaded girls that change her mind. Those girls with their smiles and their curls that shine in the mid-morning sun. Those girls with their small fingers, sticky from breakfast pastries. Liesel decides then and there that she wants those moments for herself.

She wants to look at someone with all the love she and Max have to offer, as broken as they are. With her heart practically beating out of her chest and a smile frozen on her lips, she carries on with her day and plans out what she is going to say to the man with the feathered hair and crooked teeth.

~

Max was usually home before Liesel. His job at a local bookkeeper’s shop was 9-5 while her job at the library often kept her there from 11 am until 7 or 8 o’clock at night. 

But this isn’t an ordinary night.

Miraculously, Liesel arrives home before Max that night. She can hear her heartbeat and her stomach feels like it is in her throat. The last time she had been this nervous was on their wedding night. 

With dinner still keeping warm in the oven, the clock striking 9 and no sign of Max, she decides that she’ll take a bath. Baths always calm Liesel. When things get really hectic, the only place that she can really breathe and feel at ease is a bathtub full of warm water.

However, this night is different from all other nights. Tonight, the water does not calm her. All it does is remind her of Max’s absence as her legs wander over to Max’s side of the tub. Her skin on the porcelain feels almost unnatural. Most of the time her legs rest on top of Max’s and she feels naked without him. 

~

Her head is resting against the back of the tub and she just closes her eyes when a banging at the door brings her back to reality. She quickly grabs the towel that hangs on the rack next to the tub, wraps it around herself, and rushes to the door with her wet hair dripping onto her back.

The banging at the door commences once again just as she unlocks it. Max almost falls through the doorway as the door and his forearm, which had been resting on it, separate.

“Max!” he smiles weakly, clearly in pain as she throws her arms around his blood stained neck. “What on earth happened to you?!” her eyes frantically search his face for answers. He’d been in a fight. That much is clear.

“Anthony tried to lower my wages again. The third time this month. When I confronted him about it he called me a liar. And some other names. I’ve had enough. So I quit.” His voice is calm and cool, the complete opposite of his young wife’s. 

She leads him to a chair at their small kitchen table and once assured that he’s seated she gets some old rags, a basin of hot water and begins to clean the dried blood from his face. His nose and his left eye will be swollen and bruised for a few days. He doesn’t mind. He’s no stranger to injuries.

The hot water makes him wince in pain as Liesel cleans him up but that doesn’t stop him from placing a kiss upon her palm as she brings her hand up to his cheek to wipe some dirt away.

“Thank you” he whispers. She smiles. In that moment it’s very easy for him to imagine her with a baby in her arms. In his mind she’s a natural at being a mother but he doesn’t want to bring up the topic of children for a second time just yet, and especially not now. Not after he’s just lost his job. One half of their income. 

~

A few hours later and they’re lying in their bed, moonlight streaming through their window, Liesel still wrapped in her towel and Max still in his bloodied shirt. 

She’s resting comfortably with her head on his chest and his fingers in her hair, contemplating how to tell him that she wants what he wants when a sudden rush of confidence runs through her body and she has no idea if and when it will return. 

“Liesel I was thinkin…” he begins talking but her finger on his lips quickly quiets him.

“Max. I am going to say something. And I don’t want you to say anything until I have said what I have to say. Okay?” she’s talking faster than she normally does and she’s speaking in German, which she only does now when she’s nervous and doesn’t want to have to think about translating to English.

He nods slowly.

“I’m ready” she blurts it out, almost as if it’s one word.

She doesn’t have to say anything more than that for him to understand. His swollen lips curve upwards into a full smile. She can see all of his beautiful, crooked teeth and he has tears in his eyes. As does she.

“Are you sure?” he asks, his voice light and joyful.

She nods excitedly and matches his smile with one of her own. Before either one can say anything, Max has cupped her face in his hands and has started showering her face with kisses. Her forehead, her nose, her eyelids, her cheeks, her lips. His mouth lingers on hers for awhile before he pulls away to catch his breath. He’s deliriously happy, she is too, but there’s fear as well. Will they be good parents? Will they raise good children? There are so many questions that cannot be answered now, so he decides to push them aside. Those questions don’t matter right now. All that matters to him is Liesel and how beautiful she looks in the moonlight. 

“Thank you” he whispers, his eyes glistening with visions of the happy life that stretches out before them.

She leans her forehead against his and it isn’t long until her lips are against his and his hands have come to rest on her waist, her fingers tangle in his feathery hair. Liesel can feel Max’s crooked smile against her lips

In that moment, everything is perfect, everything is quiet, and they are at peace.


End file.
